Click here for downloadable PDF file of the Ohio map of Willard Industrial Park. (Adobe Acrobat Reader required... download Adobe Acrobat Reader here)

Community:

Built around the needs to service the B & O Railroad, the community we know today was originally called Chicago, Ohio, and then Chicago Junction. Due to name problems with the U.S. Post Office, and then with the B & O Railroad itself, the citizens of the community, to honor the then president of the Railroad, Daniel Willard, requested that he allow them to name the community after him. In September of 1917, the Village name was changed from Chicago Junction to Willard, Ohio.

A community built around transportation, today remains ideally located to meet the transportation needs of industry and is an important hub for the CSX Railroad. What follows is a brief prospectus for the City of Willard.

Location and Population:

Willard is located in North Central Ohio in the Southwest section of Huron County, approximately sixty-six miles Southwest of Cleveland; 70 miles Southeast of Toledo; and 80 miles north of Columbus.
2000 census figures show Huron County with a population of 59,487 and Willard with a population of 6,806.

Government:

The municipal government of Willard operates under a city charter with a City Manager as the chief administrative officer. The City Council is made up of seven elected representatives. The City is zoned and under the guidance of the City Planning Commission that coordinates its activities with the Huron County Regional Planning Commission.

Tax Information:

Commercial/Industrial:

Real Property - $47.6326 per $1,000 Valuation
Real Property in Ohio is taxed at 35% of fair market value.
Personal Property - $65.74 per $1,000 Valuation
Personal Property, machinery and equipment, in Ohio is currently taxed at 18.75% of fair market value for exsisting equipment. New machinery and equipment is not taxable.

City Income Tax:
The City of Willard currently has a 1.5% City Income Tax.

Transportation Facilities:

In addition to a major yard for the CSX Railroad, Willard also has daily motor freight service that includes Bestway Inc., Brown Transport, Decker Transport, Dutchmaid Inc., and K & P Trucking, are all local trucking companies. The community is also served by a number of national trucking companies.

The Willard Municipal Airport, with a 4,040-foot runway, provides twin-engine, light-plane facilities and service. The nearest commercial airports are Mansfield Lahm (28 miles), Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport (60 miles), and Columbus International Airport (80 miles).

Highway Facilities:

One Federal and two State highways service the City of Willard. U. S. 224, S. R. 99, and S. R. 103 are within a 20-mile radius of Willard. Other major highways include the Ohio Turnpike, U. S. Routes 2, 6, and 20 and S. R. 61 and 598.

Utilities:

Electric Power - Electrical power is provided by the American Electric Power Company and the Firelands Electric Cooperative. There is adequate power available in the Willard area for practically any industrial requirement.

Fuel Gas – Columbia Gas of Ohio Inc. serves the Willard area. Current gas rates and a detailed explanation of them are available upon request from the company.

Water & Sewer – The municipally owned waterworks obtains its supply from an above ground reservoir that is filled primarily with water from the Huron River. The reservoir has a capacity of 2.2 billion gallons of water. The plant’s pumping capacity is 4.5 million gallons of water per day with an excess of 3.2 million gallons per day available for new industrial users. There are 750,000 gallons of treated water stored in a clear well, plus 800,000 gallons in two elevated storage tanks. Water and sewer rates are based on the meter size for 2,000 gallons a day usage.

A relatively new $11 million dollar wastewater treatment plant can handle 4.5 million gallons of wastewater per day.

Business and Industries:

Willard has a diversity of industries that includes R. R. Donnelley & Sons, a Chicago based printing firm; Midwest Industries, a manufacturer of lawn and garden machine products and snow blowers; Pepperidge Farms that makes bakery products; Guardian Manufacturing, a producer of rubber products, primarily under government and military contracts; and CSX Transportation that operates a major rail yard. In addition to many small businesses, Willard is also the corporate base for the East of Chicago Pizza Company.

Labor:

Located in Huron County, Willard is currently part of a labor surplus area. The average unemployment rate for Huron County in 1999 was 7.8%, and in 2000 was 7.2%. The unemployment rate for June of 2001 was 6.3%. Existing employers are able to draw quality employees from within a 25-30 mile radius of Willard. This would include Richland, Ashland, Lorain, Erie, Seneca and Crawford counties. Due to the strong work ethic of the area, productivity is high and absenteeism is low among area employers.

Education:

The City of Willard has in its public school system four grade school, one downtown and three in outlying locations; a junior high school; and a high school. While there has been a slight increase in total enrollment over the past several years, it has run between 2,300 to 2,400 pupils. The Willard school system is part of the Pioneer Career and Technology Center district, a vocation school located in Shelby.

There is one Catholic parochial school that goes to the sixth grade, and one church-oriented school that has eight grades. Within a 25 to 40 mile radius of Willard is access to several colleges and universities. These include Tiffin University; Heidelberg College of Tiffin; Firelands College of Huron (a branch of Bowling Green State University); the Mansfield branch of The Ohio State University; Ashland College, and Oberlin College.

Recreation:

In Willard and the area is one golf course, a bowling center, five public playgrounds, a city operated outdoor swimming pool, two softballs fields with one of them lighted, as well as a large Little League and Youth League baseball complex. Fishing and boating is allowed on the Willard Reservoir, and hunting is available in the State’s Willard Marsh Area southwest of the City.

The Willard Area YMCA building houses a privately run restaurant, office space for service programs for those in need and athletic programs for children and adults.

Healthcare:

Healthcare to the Willard community is provided through Mercy Hospital of Willard that is part of the Mercy Health Care System. Mercy Hospital of Willard is a certified 63-room hospital. Currently the hospital is in the midst of constructing a new $2.45 million emergency department and ambulatory care center.

Click here for downloadable PDF file of Willard Industrial Park. (Adobe Acrobat Reader required... download Adobe Acrobat Reader here)

The Willard Industrial Park is a public/private partnership between Comprehensive Development Solutions (CDS), The City of Willard, and the State of Ohio. The park is a TEAM effort with strong support from American Electric Power, Columbia Gas of Ohio, the Firelands Electric Cooperative, GTE, and the Huron County Development Corporation.

Development of the Industrial Park began in 1999 with infrastructure work completed in September of that year. The total acreage of the park is 77.9534 (See attached layout showing parcels). The land is fully developed and is zoned industrial. All the property is within the corporate limits of the City of Willard. Protective Covenants, along with Plans and Standards, have been established for the park and are part of the deed restrictions.

The following parcels are for sale:

Industrial Building
900 Theo Moll Drive, Willard, Ohio

Building Specifications:

Total Building Area: Plant/Warehouse: Office: Clear Height: Column Spacing: Lot Size

56,000 square feet 50,000 square feet 6,000 square feet 19' - 10" minimum/25’ maximum 50’ x 50’ 10.124 Acres

Features:

• NUCOR pre-engineered building
  
• 7'- 4" masonary West and North sides
  
• Walls - metal siding with R-13 insulation
  
• Standing-seam roof R-19
  
• 6” Concrete Floor
  
• Three dock-height doors
  
• One drive-in door
  
• Building designed and located for additional expansion of 131,500 square feet
  (3,000 square feet of office area & 128,500 square feet of manufacturing/warehouse)
  

Utilities:

• Natural Gas - Columbia Gas of Ohio provider
• Sanitary Sewer - 8”, City of Willard provider
  
• Water - 12”, City of Willard provider
  
• Electricity - 3-phase, AEP provider
  

Transportation:

• US SR-224 East-West
  
• SR-99 North-South
  
• 24 miles to I-80/I-90 (Ohio Turnpike)
  

Owner:

• WMOG Investment, Inc.
  122 South Wilson Avenue
  Fremont, OH 43420